The Rascal Micro is an open source embedded Linux platform that’s aimed at helping artists and scientists build web interfaces for their installations or instruments. According to Brandon Stafford, the creator of the Rascal Micro, “it’s like the brains of an iPhone, without the corporate overlord.” The platform has a web-based code editor and you can use Python to program it.

He recently showed the board off at Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire in Providence. “It was fascinating to talk to people working in so many different disciplines,” Brandon says. “I love watching people who are unfamiliar with the Maker movement realize that they have stumbled on something incredible.”

Matt Richardson is a San Francisco-based creative technologist and Contributing Editor at MAKE. He’s the co-author of Getting Started with Raspberry Pi and the author of Getting Started with BeagleBone.